CLITHEROE captain Neil Bolton believes his side is capable of making an impact at the top end of the Veka Ribblesdale League now that his bowling attack has started to hit top gear.

Maximum points from wins over Earby and Ribblesdale Wanderers over the Bank Holiday weekend have lifted Clitheroe up to fourth spot in the table.

And Bolton believes the secret of their success is crystal clear.

"Up to this weekend our seam bowling has been pretty average," he said.

"We have never really struggled to post a total, apart from against Great Harwood (in the cup), but we have been pretty average with the ball.

"Mark Hargreaves and Neil Bibby have both been below-par and as a result we have chased a bit of leather.

"But we came good at the weekend and you can't ask for more than 14 points."

The return of Graham Kershaw proved the catalyst as he marked his first outing of the summer in the first-team, having completed his goalkeeping duties for Rimmington, with a five-wicket haul in Saturday's tight win over Earby.

"He bowled a fantastic spell and that gave Mark Hargreaves the kick up the backside he needed to get five the day after," added Bolton.

Chasing Clitheroe's 194, in which professional Craig Thyssen made his first half-century of the season and Simon Coulter also passed fifty, Earby were going well at 105-1 when Kershaw got to work and Bolton nipped out professional Mohammed Ayub for 63.

With Nigel Hodge hitting 39 down the order the visitors were still in with a shout at 177-7 needing 190 to win on run-rate. But Thyssen then grabbed centre-stage as the visitors lost their last three wickets without adding a run.

Sunday's derby success at Ribblesdale Wanderers was more straightforward once Clitheroe had posted 172-7 on a sporting track, Bolton leading by example with an unbeaten 82, his second half-century in three knocks for last season's leading league amateur run-getter.

Bibby bowled his best spell of the season in Ribblesdale's reply, although the key wicket was claimed by Hargreaves when he had professional Shahid Nawaz superbly caught for a duck by Steve Whalley at first-slip as the home side struggled to 127 thanks only to a hard-hit 48 from John Braithwaite.

The win helped Clitheroe secure their place in a top-four which has started to open up a bit of a gap on the rest, and Bolton is looking to make further progress.

He said: "You can't look any further than Read for the championship. Settle are probably favourites for second-place and if they still had Paul Ridgway they might have challenged Read.

"But second is up for grabs. It would be a fantastic achievement for us to get it and we would have to improve again. But it is not out of our grasp.

"We need to be a bit more consistent and if the pro can dominate a bit more, there's no reason why we can't be challenging for that spot."

Bolton is hoping that Saturday's visit of Read will bring the best out of Thyssen and is relishing the chance of trying to end the leaders' unbeaten start.

"Anybody who has anything about them at cricket wants to play at the highest standard and against the best players they can," Bolton said.

"Read are the best side. I am looking forward to it and I'm sure the lads are.

"I don't really see any weaknesses in their batting and they are a tremendous bowling side as well.

"But they haven't really been put under any pressure in the league yet.

"You couldn't get a price on them for winning the league, but you would hope they might slip up once or twice and so you pray that if they have an off-day you're at your best and can cause an upset."